THOMAS E. MORRIS, Magistrate Judge.
This case is before the Court on Plaintiff's Renewed Motion to Compel a Complete Inspection of Defendant's Facility Pursuant to Rule 34, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Inspection (Doc. #11, Renewed Motion), filed January 13, 2012. Defendant filed a response in opposition (Doc. #13, Response) on January 27, 2012. Plaintiff sought leave to file a reply brief (Doc. #14), which the Court denied without prejudice (Doc. #15) on February 6, 2012. This matter is ripe for the Court's consideration.
Plaintiff seeks an order compelling Defendant under Rule 34, Fed. R. Civ .P., to submit to an inspection of Defendant's property for Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA") violations, hereinafter referred to as "barriers to access."
The property in question, Sadler Square, is a shopping plaza that contains several different businesses. The parties agreed to conduct an inspection on December 21, 2011. It appears Plaintiff's expert conducted an inspection of the exterior of the facility, the parking lot and the common areas. See Renewed Motion at ¶ 11. Upon completion of the inspection of the noted areas, Plaintiff's expert requested to inspect all interior tenant spaces. Id. at ¶ 5. Defendant's representative declined further inspection because Plaintiff had not identified any specific interior barriers he had encountered. See Response at ¶¶ 5-8; see also Response, Exh. A. At that point, the inspection was terminated.
Defendant argues Plaintiff's complaint fails to specifically identify any particular tenant or business he allegedly visited or any alleged barriers he encountered. Defendant argues Plaintiff should not be permitted to inspect the interior space of every tenant in the plaza without any allegation that Plaintiff visited those tenants and encountered barriers. The scope of inspection is thus in dispute.
Rule 34(a)(2), Fed.R.Civ.P., provides that:
Rule 26(b)(1), Fed. R. Civ. P., defines the scope of discovery stating, "Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the claim or defense or any party."
While several courts outside of the Eleventh Circuit hold otherwise, a number of district courts in this Circuit have limited inspection to access barriers specified in the complaint. See Harty v. SRA/Palm Trails Plaza, 755 F.Supp.2d 1215 (S.D. Fla. 2010) (plaintiff not entitled to inspection of mobility-related barriers on defendant's property, other than those specified in his complaint); Macort v. Goodwill Industries-Manasota, 220 F.R.D. 377 (M.D. Fla. 2003) (limiting inspection to specific barriers to access alleged in complaint); Fox v. Morris Jupiter Assocs., 2007 WL 2819522 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 25, 2007)
Here, Plaintiff has alleged in his complaint numerous and various violations related to parking, ramps, public use doors, restrooms and public use dressing rooms. Complaint at ¶¶ 17-18. Plaintiff further alleged this list was not exclusive. Id. However, Plaintiff did not specify at which establishments in the Sadler Square he encountered barriers, which establishments he attempted or intended to visit, or which establishments he is likely to patronize in the future.
Furthermore, the Court finds that Plaintiff, who is bound to ambulate in a wheelchair, is not entitled to inspect for barriers to access which do not affect his particular disability. See Steger v. Franco, Inc., 228 F.3d 889 (8
Accordingly, it is now hereby
1. Renewed Motion to Compel a Complete Inspection of Defendant's Facility Pursuant to Rule 34, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Inspection (Doc. #11) is
2. Plaintiff may not conduct inspection of interior tenant spaces unless and until Plaintiff amends his complaint to specify which establishments on Defendant's property caused him injury in fact, unless the parties are otherwise able to agree upon which tenant spaces may be subject to inspection. If Plaintiff wishes to file an amended complaint, he must file an appropriate motion to do so.